Misaligned Stars
by xXBalorBabeXx
Summary: When the balance starts to shift in the storylines, will anything be the same off camera? (AU, set in mid to late 2015 and co-written with Cry-Of-A-Warp-Engine and werewolf-queen-022)


_**8/4/15, taping for 8/6/15 episode of WWE SmackDown…**_

 _In Sacramento_ , _Amanda was reading over the script for the commentary segment she had during Stardust vs Zack Ryder._

" _He may have made the galaxy his home but I'll pull Stardust back down to Earth…" Amanda said quietly, setting the script down. "They should have a part tonight where Cody removes the contacts and paint and ditches Stardust completely." She muttered, unaware that Cody was in the doorway._

" _Oh really now? What, the same as how you think I ditched you for no reason?!"_ _Cody responded._

" _The walls have ears… yeah, I know you're growing frustrated with playing an alter ego brother to Goldust. And it doesn't feel right for you to verbally attack me, Cody." Amanda replied after turning around, Balor Club tank top tied at the back._

" _No, it doesn't… and you know why we split, whether it was dead right or dead wrong. But it is frustrating… instead of having my own character, I'm a half copy of another one's fame!" Cody responded_.

" _Beats being the eternally young kid member of The Shield. I thought after suggesting the split of the group, I'd feel free again." Amanda muttered, Cody turning startled and Amanda looking back at him. "And let's face it, you wouldn't have stuck around if we had kids because you didn't want to." She said, Cody turning infuriated._

" _You want to go there, do you?! Maybe I would have stuck around if you'd taken care of yourself, or even looked at treatments! But no, you just cried it out and gave up, and you say that I didn't care?!" Cody shouted in response._

" _I did look into the treatments, you jackass! You know what happened when I tried one?! It caused my system to go haywire! Oh wait, you probably don't remember that because you were dick deep in Brandi while I was in the hospital!" Amanda yelled, Cody backhanding her._

 _Cody went for another blow to Amanda's face when he was grabbed from behind and tossed into the wall by Finn, who was absolutely furious at Cody putting his hands on Amanda._

" _What was that, 'unfinished business' to handle?! How about you handle it with me, hey?! Go on, give me a good punch, I dare you to fucking try!" Finn growled, opening his arms out in a 'vulnerable' motion but also in such a way that his limb spread put cover in front of Amanda._

 _Cody stormed out, slamming the door and Finn turned to Amanda. His hands cradled her face, seeing that Cody had hit the left side of her mouth._

" _No limits or respect, that man." Finn muttered as he examined the bruising jawline._

" _I miss the Cody that I grew up with." Amanda said quietly as Finn checked for blood where her tooth no longer was, finding none and grabbing a gel pack from the fridge. He pressed it to Amanda's jaw with his right hand, his left hand on the back of her head and fingers running through her tousled chestnut locks to massage the scalp._

 _But the Cody she knew was_ _long gone._

" _I'm surprised you're out here after last night's accident but why bring Finn with you, Mandy?" Michael Cole asked as Finn was staying close to Amanda, his right arm around her._

" _There was a bit of a fight earlier and I'm out here to prevent more." Finn explained as Amanda wasn't talking too much… the bruise on her jaw was hidden by concealer but her jaw and mouth still stung from Cody hitting her._

 _It wasn't long before Zack had control of this match but as usual, Cody reversed it… and won before turning his attention to a microphone and rambling about Stephen, who he was truly convinced was Arrow._

" _It's like the stars have aligned all the way from Diablo Canyon, Colorado to the 5th Dimension!" Cody continued… before noticing Amanda and Finn. "Oh look… our Demon King and his Mistress in their human forms tonight!" He called out louder, Amanda turning to Finn._

" _Where are they going with this storyline again?" Amanda whispered._

" _Damned if I know, I lost track of it when he started attacking Neville." Finn responded in the same quiet tone as Cody stayed in character._

' _Is it too late to fix things?' Cody thought…_

 **Present time,** _ **8/18/15, SmackDown taping set to air 8/20/15…**_

' _Have to do this.'_ Amanda thought before sending out a video call… and Ashley Hardy answering it.

"Hey, kiddo… you look tired, you feeling okay?" Ashley greeted.

"The storylines have got me drained… right now, we just finished taping Adrian's match against Bo Dallas and… Stardust appeared." Amanda explained, Ashley knowing that Stardust was Cody Rhodes's current on screen character.

"What was meant to happen?" Ashley asked.

"He was going on and on about his upcoming tag match involving Wade Barrett, Adrian and this one was a bit of a shocker, Stephen Amell… but the more this Stardust character goes on, the more I'm convinced that Cody's gone crazy." Amanda responded.

"Well if it helps, your Demon Mistress character is getting a better response than his Stardust one." Ashley replied.

"Have you been watching NXT?" Amanda asked.

"Of course I've been when I get the chance. It's a bit hard at the moment though but I still try to watch it." Ashley said.

"They must be driving you crazy. Tell Jeff Jarrett that he needs to retake control of Impact from Dixie Carter, that bitch is running the company into the ground." Amanda replied before her phone rang and she picked it up. "Excuse me one sec, Sis." She responded before picking it up and putting it on speaker. "Cén chuid nach bhfuil a thuigeann tú, Russo?! Tóg do thairiscint agus é a shórtáil suas do asal!" She yelled before hanging up, Ashley's mouth dropping open in shock.

"What the fuck just happened?" Ashley asked.

"That was Vince Russo that called, _again_ trying to get me on his podcast since Dave Meltzer put out fake reports of me and Finn. Meltzer and Russo are lying assholes, I've always thought Jim Cornette knows the business better." Amanda explained as Finn walked in and crouched down, seeing Ashley.

"You better keep a good eye on her, Finn." Ashley responded.

"I will, Ash. Hey, are you and your brothers ever coming back to WWE?" Finn replied.

"We might, we might not. Just keep her safe and if anyone causes trouble, send them my way." Ashley explained before the video call ended… and under Amanda's left ear, Finn saw a small but once again open cut and quickly left, returning with a wet washcloth and putting it on the wound.

And he knew just how it had happened.


End file.
